iMovies on AppleTV? What format?

[Dave00]

I'd really like to view my iMovies on my TV my wife got me for my birthday. (What a thoughtful wife!) I tried saving some imovies as Quicktime movies, but it says the format isn't recognized by AppleTV. Is there any format I can choose so that I can view my home movies? I have Quicktime Pro so multiple formats are available.

Dave

 

[MikieMikie]

H.264, M4V, MP4

iPod, iPhone, Streaming -- whatever QTPro says.

 

[Dave00]

Cool, I hadn't thought to use iPod presets (I have only the older iPods which alas, cannot display video.

Thanks!
Dave

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Dave,

If you can open them in Quicktime (Pro), there is an "Export" option that is AppleTV. If you open them in iMovie HD, there is the same "export" option for AppleTV. Use that option and the resulting file is made for AppleTV.

 

[theBB]

iMovie 06 has File->Export->AppleTV option. It works well. It sets the format and the optimum resolution and bit rate for you.

Otherwise, export as MP4, pick H.264 and try to pick the same resolution as your project. If it is a standard DV project, let's say NTSC, you can pick the x480 resolution and frame rate to be 30. If its a 720p HDV project then you need 24 frames per second.

 

[Dave00]

Unfotunately, I have an earlier version of iLife (whatever came with the first iMac G5's, I think it was iMovie 4) so there's no AppleTV option for exporting. But, it will let me export to .mov and I can convert that using Quicktime Pro.

Still can't figure out why they've made no mechanism for sorting movies into folders, and why the Movies folder in TV doesn't just mirror the Movies folder on your hard drive (and play the associated iMovies.) It seems odd that there is a top-level option for viewing other people's home movies (YouTube) but not for your own.

Dave

 

[HobeSoundDarryl]

Dave if your version of Quicktime Pro is new enough, you'll have the Export to AppleTV option there. Else, since it sounds like you are into video, why not just spring for ilife '08 (or '06) and save yourself a step. If that's too much, I think the latest version of QT Pro is still $30.

As to sorting films in itunes, that is a bit of pain for now. However, you can do some sorting of video in itunes if you tell itunes they are "tv shows" instead of "movies" and then fill in some of the blanks in the video tab. Key is to put a name the "Show" field, put the folder name you'll want on Apple TV in "Artists", and then punch numbers into "Episode Number". For home movies, I use a date model for "Episode Number" to keep them all in the order in which they were shot. So, an "Episode Number" of 19970301 would be video from March 1st, 1997.

Note that this solution means that your video will be in the "TV Shows" entry in iTunes, instead of "Movies", but going to this trouble will make it possible to organize video into folders for Apple TV.

 

[theBB]

Otherwise, export as MP4, pick H.264 and try to pick the same resolution as your project. If it is a standard DV project, let's say NTSC, you can pick the x480 resolution and frame rate to be 30. If its a 720p HDV project then you need 24 frames per second.

Then you can follow my second option above. I assume your version of iMovie has File->Export->Expert Settings -> Export to MP4 option or something similar.
Afterwards the settings above works for me.

 

[Dave00]

why not just spring for ilife '08 (or '06) and save yourself a step.

I'd love to, but iLife '08 won't work on my iMac G5 1.8Ghz. I am going to borrow a copy of iLife '06 and see if it works at any reasonable speed on my machine.

As to sorting films in itunes, that is a bit of pain for now. However, you can do some sorting of video in itunes if you tell itunes they are "tv shows" instead of "movies" and then fill in some of the blanks in the video tab. Key is to put a name the "Show" field, put the folder name you'll want on Apple TV in "Artists", and then punch numbers into "Episode Number". For home movies, I use a date model for "Episode Number" to keep them all in the order in which they were shot. So, an "Episode Number" of 19970301 would be video from March 1st, 1997.

That sounds like an awesome solution. I will definitely have to try that. Will it allow a non-numeric "episode number"? Otherwise all of your videos would have only the date to describe what's in 'em.

Thanks for the help!

Dave